Private Equity’s Playbook: Plundering the American Economy | Brendan Ballou

2026-03-13

Geopolitical strategist Jacob Shapiro is back to break down the second- and third-order effects of the US-Israel coordinated military action in Iran—and what it means for global markets, energy, and the future of the Middle East.

Jacob lays out three major macro themes he’s been wrestling with: the end of the Gulf states’ vision as safe havens for global capital, the unprecedented vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz as an energy chokepoint, and what this conflict reveals about the accelerating shift toward a multipolar world.

Also, the “why now?” question behind the strikes, the role of the IRGC and why the Venezuela playbook doesn’t work in Iran, China’s strategic positioning, and more.

Find out more about Jacob Shapiro here: https://jacobshapiro.com/

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2026-03-06

Eric Fine, portfolio manager at VanEck, joins us this week to break down the emerging market bond landscape in a wide-ranging conversation covering geopolitics, currencies, and why EM bonds may be one of the most compelling trades of the decade.

Eric explains how recent Middle East events created clear winners among oil-exporting emerging markets, why the dollar will slowly share its reserve status, and how 13 years of data supports the case that EM bonds offer roughly double the yield of developed market bonds at lower volatility.
The conversation also dives into the structural advantages EM countries hold and why these fundamentals are drawing attention from institutional investors and central banks alike.

Eric also shares the story behind VanEck’s actively managed EM bond ETF, the

2026-02-18

If you’ve participated in private placements, you’ve probably ended up with warrants as a "sweetener" – and if you listened to the conventional wisdom, you probably sold the stock and sat on the warrants, or ignored them entirely.

While most investors treat warrants as throwaway assets or confuse them with complex options strategies, John argues they are actually the "Venture Capital" of the public markets. They offer the kind of asymmetric upside that is usually reserved for Silicon Valley insiders, but with one major difference: anyone with a brokerage account can buy them.

I honestly had never met a dedicated warrants trader before John Pangere.

We get into the weeds on why the "efficient market hypothesis" completely fails here. Because these assets are too small for the massive

2026-01-23

I sat down with George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures to discuss his latest annual forecast, and what a conversation it turned out to be.

George walks us through what he calls the “re-anchoring” of the world order. The Cold War didn’t truly end with the fall of the Soviet Union—it ended in Ukraine, where Russia proved it couldn’t even take its neighbor. Now the US-China relationship has replaced the US-Russia dynamic as the world’s primary anchor, creating a fundamentally different situation.

We dig into the economic challenges both countries face, the future of NATO, and yes—I had to ask George about Greenland. George also shares his thoughts on what comes after Trump, the demographic crisis facing the developed world, and why Russia’s position has become increasingly precarious.

2025-12-10

This is one of my favorite interviews of 2025. I just sat down with Jeff deGraaf, founder of Renaissance Macro Research, to get his thoughts on markets, cycles, and risk.

Jeff built his career translating technical analysis into actionable investment strategies for institutional clients. Institutional Investor has named him the #1 technical analyst for over a decade.

In this conversation, he walks through Jeff’s market cycle clock—a framework that plots inflation against growth to forecast stock market returns—and explains why inflation matters more to stocks than GDP growth does.

We cover:
• Why trend following beats mean reversion for long-term investors
• How to identify bubbles—and what to do when you’re in one
• Where semiconductors and healthcare sit on the valuation spectrum

2025-12-05

Everyone worries AI will take their job. Steve Lord thinks we’ll hit a bigger wall first: power. Lord is COO of Burkland Associates, which provides fractional CFO services to hundreds of VC-backed startups. He works with Andreessen Horowitz and dozens of other top VC firms, giving him a unique view of the AI frontier.

In this conversation, we dig into the infrastructure bottleneck facing AI, why startups aren’t going public anymore, what went wrong with crypto’s original promise, and why America still holds an edge in innovation. Plus, Lord’s blunt advice for founders trying to raise capital in today’s market—and for investors looking at VC opportunities.

Learn more about Steve Lord here:
https://burklandassociates.com/executive-team/steven-lord/

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2025-11-20

The CNN Fear and Greed Index hit extreme fear territory this week. Yet when Brent Donnelly surveyed investors, he found something different: a market repricing risk rather than fleeing from it entirely.

Brent runs Spectra Markets and remains one of the sharpest currency traders I know. His survey revealed that zero-revenue AI plays and debt-heavy infrastructure names are getting hammered while companies with actual cash flows hold up better. The pivot point came in late October with Meta’s earnings.

Brent’s survey found that 65% of respondents would rather short OpenAI at a $500 billion valuation than go long on a three-year horizon. Most believe AI is a bubble, but they don’t think it’s topped yet.

We also discuss what happens when OpenAI’s $20/month subscription model can’t support

2025-11-14

Bruce Mehlman is one of Washington’s sharpest political strategists. We dive deep into the recent government shutdown—why it happened, who won, and what it means for investors. Bruce also breaks down the Democratic sweep in November’s off-year elections, the AI bubble, and the economic tailwinds Wall Street is ignoring: massive foreign investment commitments, banking deregulation, and surprisingly strong corporate earnings. We also discuss the K-shaped economy that’s dividing America, why inflation remains the single most powerful political issue, and what deregulation really means for investors. Finally, Bruce pulls out his crystal ball for predictions on the 2026 midterms and who’s positioning for 2028 presidential runs on both sides.

Read Bruce Mehlman’s free Substack here: